The COI Collection Volume Three: They Stand Ready

The third volume in the COI Collection, They Stand Ready, looks at Britain’s armed forces. To help paint a positive picture of life in the Services the COI produced morale-boosting documentaries, propaganda items and numerous recruitment films, which placed emphasis on escaping the humdrum of daily life. Join the Services, we are told, and a world of opportunity awaits you.

Highlights include: Victory Parade (1946), in which troops from all over the British Empire arrive in London to celebrate victory over the Nazis; They Stand Ready (1955), a look at the vital role of national service; Suez in Perspective (1957), where the Suez Crisis is given a positive spin; Routine Adventure (1965), about the RAF’s role in Aden; When You Wake Up (1974), a recruitment film for schoolgirls which attempts to lure them into the Women’s Royal Army Corp (WRAC); HMS Sheffield (1976) and Tornado (1985), big boys’ toys on the high seas and in the skies.

Disc one

Victory Parade (1946)

Men of the World (1950)

Eagles of the Fleet (1950)

Out of the Groove (1950)

They Stand Ready (1955)

Suez in Perspective (1957)

Musicians in the Making (1958)

Military Policeman (1961)

Ten Foot Tall (1964)

Winged Horizons (1965)

Egypt Today: The Anglo-French Aggression Against Egypt (1956)

Disc two

Voyage North (1965)

Routine Adventure (1965)

Army Summer of 1968 (1968)

Exercise Enterprise (1968)

Best of Both Worlds (1971)

Community Relations Officer (1974)

When You Wake Up (1974)

Ark Royal (c1970)

HMS Sheffield (1975)

Tornado Trailer (1985)

Royal Navy Amazon (c1980)

Tornado (1985)

Special features

Egypt Today: Anglo-French Aggression Against Egypt (1956, 11 minutes): a very different story is told in this Egyptian response to British Suez propaganda.